August 22, 2012

Dress the Bump (For Cheap)

Since I know we all love to be frugal and thrifty (cheap), I thought I'd share how I managed to stay clothed during my pregnancy on our itty bitty student budget. I found out very quickly that the selection of cute and affordable maternity clothes is slim pickins.

1 Let's start with the most obvious: stretchy stuff.
Anything with any amount of spandex is your new best friend. Especially jeans! I was able to stay in my normal pants for my whole pregnancy because they had a little stretch to them.

Just a normal, really stretchy top

2When the jeans started getting a little too tight on the hips, I put a hair tie around the button, through the loop and back around the button for an extra inch of breathing room. If that was confusing, just Google "hair thing button extender". You'll find some really pretty images.

3 Buy a few flowy tops in the next size up. Let's be honest, a lot of "maternity" tops are just normal baggy tops. And if you want to keep the whole belly covered (for the sake of everyone around you, please do) shirts need to be a few inches longer than normal. Obv.

Exhibit A: $5 Old Navy Clearance, one size bigger

Exhibit B: $12 Express clearance, normal size, just a loose fit

4Raid your husband's closet. Ok I did this before I was pregnant, but his clothes looked much less manly on my pregnant bod. I would dress up one of his casual button-ups with a cardigan and scarf since it was winter time. I even had my bank teller say "You dress really well.. I mean for a pregnant lady." Quasi compliment? I'll take it.

5 If you do get actual maternity clothes, go for basics. You can wear basic tees many different ways and they won't be "so 2012" if you want to use them for later pregnancies. I wore these two $5 Old Navy tops at least once a week because when you're this big, you just want to be comfortable!

6 Wear slutty dresses as tops. You know the ones, the $3 Ross clearance kind that remain unsold to all who wish to guard their carnal treasure. Well, turns out they work great as maternity tops. Sadly I never got a picture to prove it. But if you're having no luck in the shirts section take a gander at dresses.

7 Make stuff! Even though I was really busy, I found time to make a few simple tops and a dress. This blog has a lot of great, easy ideas and it's also where I got some sewing patterns to make this dress.

And if all else fails, throw on a baggy t-shirt and some sweat pants. You deserve it.